Hi mystery fans! Time to stock up on mysteries: new releases, backlist, news and roundups.
New Releases
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen
If you like character-driven crime and have ever wondered how the counterfeit handbag world works. this one’s for you. It’s mostly told from Ava Wong’s perspective as she pleads her case to the police telling the entire story of how she, a married mother of a toddler, ended up in the illegal world of counterfeit designer handbags after Winnie Fang, who she hadn’t seen since college, entered her life and pulled her into it. I love being plunged into someone’s life–a mother struggling with a toddler in full tantrum mode, having given up her career, with a husband now working nonstop to be the only income earner who’s never available. I was fascinated by the con in this (Chinese factories and US boutiques), loved the ending, and I always love seeing cultures and immigrant characters (all so different with various views on looking back or forward, having one foot in two different worlds etc). The audiobook is narrated by Catherine Ho and I really enjoyed the time I spent listening.
Last Call at the Nightingale by Katharine Schellman
For historical mystery fans looking to armchair sleuth and travel to a speakeasy in the Jazz age, this one is set in 1924 in Prohibition-era New York. Vivian Kelly doesn’t find much excitement living with her sister and working as a seamstress, so she finds her thrills at the speakeasy The Nightingale—until a bootlegger’s body is found and Vivian is believed to know more than she does…
Looking for more new releases? Check out our New Books newsletter!
Riot Recommendations
This week I’ve got two all time favorite crime novels that have the theme of crime and cars, and are a hell of a…wait for it…ride (sorry, not sorry). Both of these books are what I seek when I pick up a crime novel when it comes to writing, feeling, suspense, and character depth.
Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
Cosby’s writing puts you in every scene where you will not only reach to put your seat belt on, but also have all your senses on alert including feeling like you can taste the danger. Beauregard “Bug” Montage turned his life around to be an honest man, husband, father, business owner. But his mother is ill, his daughter needs tuition money, and bills are piling high. So he decides to take one last job from a past career–wheelman/getaway driver. He thinks that if he plans this robbery down to the T, it’ll solve all his problems and he can continue living his nice life. Except this is a crime novel so of course that’s not going to happen and Bug is going to have to figure out how to save himself, his family, and the life he’s built.
(TW parent with cancer/ homophobia, racism, slurs/ fat shaming/ torture)
She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
This book is so good that I still regularly check to see if Harper has an upcoming book. Nate and his entire family are marked by the Aryan Brotherhood to be killed right before he’s released from prison. So even though he doesn’t really know his eleven-year-old daughter Polly, he picks her up and they go on the run—Nate trying to keep them alive and outrun the hit on them and Polly trying to process everything happening as she gets to know her dad. My favorite line of the book pretty much sums up my love of this book: “She had a teddy bear in her arms and murder in her eyes.” Polly is a forever fiercely loved character.
(Sorry I don’t remember the TWs)
News and Roundups
Sisters In Crime Opens Submissions for the Pride Award: Emerging LGBTQIA+ Crime Writer Will Receive $2,000 Grant to Support Career Development
Cover reveal: A Good Day to Pie by Misha Popp (sequel to Magic, Lies, and Deadly Pies)
We’re Living in a Golden Age of Australian Crime and Mystery Television
8 Novels about Family Secrets Lurking Right Under Your Nose
8 Shows Like The Flight Attendant to Watch While You Wait for Season 3
Browse all the books recommended in Unusual Suspects previous newsletters on this shelf. See upcoming 2022 releases. Check out this Unusual Suspects Pinterest board and get Tailored Book Recommendations!
Until next time, keep investigating! In the meantime, come talk books with me on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Litsy–you can find me under Jamie Canavés.
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